Lundbeck’s Brintellix scores well in new cognitive performance study

Danish CNS specialist Lundbeck (LUND: CO) has released results from FOCUS, a new studyshowing that Brintellix (vortioxetine) met its primary endpoint in demonstrating superiority over placebo in a composite score of two tests, the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), that measure cognitive function in adults with major depression.

In this study, Brintellix was shown to improve measures of cognitive domains such as executive function, speed of processing and attention. These data were presented at the Annual Meeting at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).

FOCUS, a global, eight-week, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, fixed-dose study evaluated the efficacy of Brintellix on cognitive function and major depression across three arms in around 600 patients aged 18-65 with an acute episode of major depression. Cognitive function was measured in a series of validated tests that assessed changes from baseline to week 8 on specific cognitive domains known to be impaired in major depression, including executive function, speed of processing, attention and memory.